Your Right to Know

Monday is decision day for Ohio owners of exotic animals: Register, or lose them.

The journey that began Oct. 18, 2011, when Terry Thompson set free his personal menagerie
outside Zanesville and then killed himself, comes to a fork in the road with the Nov. 5 deadline
for people who own animals and snakes on the restricted-species list.

“It is in every owner’s interest to see they have a registration form in here on time,” Ohio
Agriculture Director David T. Daniels said yesterday at the first meeting of the Ohio Dangerous and
Restricted Animals Board. He said the agency has no leeway under the state’s exotic-animals law for
owners who miss the deadline: either they register their animals, or they can expect to give them
away or have them seized by the state.

“Our last resort would be that we have to take custody of an animal,” Daniels said. He added, “
We want the public to be safe.”

While the ownership ban included in Senate Bill 310 doesn’t take full effect until Jan. 1, 2014,
owners have only until Monday to register if they want to keep their animals. Otherwise, they will
be in violation of the law. Based on complaints, the state then could go to the local county
prosecutor to obtain a court order to seize the animals.

Daniels told the 13-member board that there are an estimated 500 to 600 exotic animals in the
state; 40 owners have registered. Some of the 40 include zoos.

Anticipating that he will have to use the last resort, Daniels’ agency soon will break ground on
a $3.5 million holding facility for 30 to 40 exotic animals and snakes, to be located on the
grounds of the Department of Agriculture, 8995 E. Main St., in Reynoldsburg. Once under way,
construction is expected to take about three months, Daniels said.The state has helped owners
relocate 17 animals, including tigers, bears and an alligator, outside Ohio.

State veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshey, asked by a board member why more owners have not
registered, offered a candid response.

“I don’t know if there’s a level of trust with us,” he said. “People know what’s going on, and
they’re scared. We’ll work with people any way we can, but we do have our restrictions.”

Pamela White, a board member who has 12 primates at her American Primate Educational Sanctuary
in Blacklick, agreed that owners are leery of the state.

“You’ve got people running scared,” she said. White said she will meet the state requirements so
she can keep her animals for what she calls a “lifetime commitment.”

The board approved temporary animal care, housing and caging standards for various species of
animals. The standards, which must be considered by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, a
legislative panel, include sizes for cages and enclosures, plus a requirement for an “electrified
top wire or hot cables” on fences.